|
|
joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
|
|
"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "hundred thousand united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- jeffdouglass@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "JEFF DOUGLASS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jeffdouglass@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 00:13:17 +0200
Subject: BARACK OBAMA CHARITABLE FOUNDATION NOTIFICATION 2010.
Dear Sir,
I am in receipt of your mail and very glad to know that you have allotted a Compensation payment of TWO MILLION AND SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($2,600,000.00 USD)from the Barack Obama Charitable Foundation in United States Of America in Conjunction with the International Monetary Fund( IMF).
I want to congratulate You for emerging the winner of this monthly draw.The draw was done electronically with several email addresses provided to this office by microsoft to enhance the utilization of the internet. Your email address was attached to Reference NumberUSA/LIC/SEC-UDHS-USP/CP-10: your email address was Picked as One Of the Five Winning email Addresses. This Qualified You to Claim the total Cash Prize stated above.
Your Winning Check Will be Handed Over to You as soon as Our Claims Department Verify Your Winning After You Might have filled the payment processing form that will be given to you in due course.
You are Advised to Contact Our Claims Agent:
DR Jeff Douglass through his email address: jeffdouglass@hotmail.com
Please Quote Your Reference Number :......... when You are Filing Your Claims
Congratulations From All Our Members of Barack Obama Charitable foundation in united state of america.
Await you Quick Response.
Yours Sincerely,
Dr. CLITON POWEL
DIRECTOR OF CLAIMS.
CONFIDENTIALLY NOTICE.
+448712375504.
|
Anti-fraud resources: